Kokiri Dreams
by Greven il-Vec
Summary: Link returns to the Kokiri Forest after his stay in Termina. A reunion and a chance to begin anew sounds all well and good, but an innocuous looking New Year's Eve party can turn everything upside down. Strange feelings start to arise between old friends.
1. Prelude: A Moment's Reverie

**Disclaimer:** Hey! It's not like you own "The Legend of Zelda" either.

**Summary:** Link returns to the Kokiri Forest after an extended stay in Termina. A reunion and a chance to begin anew sounds all well and good, but an innocuous looking New Year's Eve party can turn everything upside down. Strange feelings start to arise between old friends.

When you're reading this, think "Midsummer Night's Dream."

**Warnings: far too much contemplation, the rest of the story will be much lighter**

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Thoughts are in _italics_

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**Prelude: A Moment's Reverie**

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The sun was already far past its peak and sinking slowly down into the horizon by the time a lone boy reached the Hyrule wall. His lengthened shadowed twisted over the rocky ground of the field as he passed through the stoic stone gates.

It had been a long time since he had last seen this familiar monument. Now dyed a blood-like red in the fading light, it reminded him of the conditions under which had last lived here, and why he had left. It was two years ago in fact, the day he left his homeland to find...a few different things. 

The simplest of those was a lost friend. His guardian and companion Navi had left so long ago, out a window in the Temple of Time. Gone without a word as to where she was going or when she'd be back. He hoped it was when, not if. The fear of not knowing had worn on him until he decided the best course of action would be to just look for the fairy.

Another thing was adventure. People continually told him that he was destined for great things, and if adventure wasn't seeking him out, he felt almost magically compelled to seek it himself. He was neither violent nor rash, and he certainly didn't seek glory or wealth. But somehow he managed to throw himself in harms way. 

It would always seem a perfectly good idea at the time: duck into a burning building with the Goron tunic to save a life, help a community fight off a group of bandits, or find a missing son or daughter. But each quest brought new obstacles and only further obscured him from his goal, until finally he couldn't even remember what that was. 

Thus, he heart-wrenchingly turned his back on the people who needed his help and returned here. He couldn't fix the world, but he'd at least ensure peace in part of it.

The last item on his agenda was the whole purpose of the quest, to find himself. Seeing as the whole moon fiasco had taken all of three days, he had had a lot of time to think during his stay over in the other land. For ten years had found his perfect niche..._well, maybe not that perfect_...but at least he had fit. 

Then, in a few weeks his entire world was stood on end. He had been lied to about his heritage and kept in the dark about his role as the bearer of the Triforce of Courage. Furthermore, throughout his entire battle with the Ganon he had been manipulated. The dark lord pushing on one side, the Princess Zelda pulling on the other. 

Each move he made had been choreographed by plans laid out before he had even left the forest. He couldn't rely on destiny to guide his life forever. He had to take charge and carve his own niche into Hyrule.

He had returned to do just that.

The boy heaved a sigh, his unseeing eyes sweeping over the landscape while his mind was still trapped in his daydream.

There were more productive things to be doing than dwelling on the past, though. He needed to think about the future. There was so much he needed to catch up on and so many people he needed to revisit. Of course, this only brought another wave of memories crashing around him. 

He had missed his friends, that's for sure. Darunia, Ruto, Malon, the crazy windmill dude...Saria. It had been _far_ too long since he had seen his best friend. The ocarinas' communication trick wouldn't work between worlds, so they had been cut off for more time than they had in all of their previous lives. 

Princess Zelda was definitely worth mentioning, too. During his brief existence at the age of seventeen, he had felt more than just friendship for the ruler, but now reverted to a child, those feelings were mangled and impossible for him to understand. Visiting her would be the second thing he did, but first...

Link broke from his reverie and looked up to see the arched entrance of the Kokiri Forest. His feet had instinctively taken him to the place he considered "home," even if that could never be. It was now well into the night and the stars were the only illumination he had to see by. Link gathered a deep breath and took the first steps into the pitch-black forest. 

He was finally home.

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_To be continued..._

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**Next chapter:** Saria enters the fray, Mido get a long overdue reality check, and how do you get a cow upstairs?!

Sooo....? 

Not much happened, I know, but if you didn't fall asleep, you'll probably find the rest of the story much better. (Note to Self: you're supposed to make the first part interesting so people will want to read it, d'oh!)

Ooo! Ooo! There it is **\/**  Do you see it?!  It's the review button! O_O


	2. Chapter 1: Midnight Meeting

**Disclaimer: **No, over the past few days I have NOT gained control over the entire Nintendo franchise like I planned, so...the disclaimer in the prelude will still have to do.

Thanks go out to my only two reviewers. *sigh* The first chapter was pretty boring, so I guess that's to be expected....But this one is MUCH better! So read on!

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Thoughts are in _italics_

(FYI, Link is 13)

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**Chapter 1: Midnight Meeting**

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Link's heavy boots made loud footsteps on the wooden bridge connecting the entrance from Hyrule field to the Kokiri Forest. Not much had changed here in three years, and it wouldn't change much more in three hundred.

"It feels right to be back in an actually forest again," murmured Link to himself. Being out in the world and meeting new people was exciting, but there was nothing quite as comforting as being in a place that you knew could never change. 

"I'd like to see the village, but I guess any visitor wouldn't be too welcome at this hour. I'll just have to pay the new Deku Tree a visit, then sneak in quietly." He figured he'd just sneak into his tree house, drop off his stuff, and then surprise everyone in the morning.

He walked for another half an hour or so through a maze of forest that served as a final deterrent against any who sought to find the heart of the forest where the Kokiri lived. Due to the fact that it was so dark and that the vegetation had grown and died forming new paths over the time he was gone, he ended up losing his way twice and eventually having to uproot a Deku scrub to take him there.

But, once he did arrive, Link couldn't help an uncontrollable smile from forming at the sight of the idyllic sanctuary. Fireflies floating around in the thicker patches of grass, and everything cast a dark green shade by light filtered in the trees above....Link mentally slapped himself for gaping like an idiot at what he must have seen at least a thousand times before. 

Strangely, the music of the skull kids was absent tonight. Everything was deathly quiet, and each sound of a snapping twig or rustling bush hung in the air.

Link crept quietly from shadow to shadow as he made a roundabout path to his tree house. It wasn't as though he expected to be caught or anything. It was just that, for one trained in the Gerudo's art of stealth, some habits died hard. He avoided the central green to which most of the houses were directed, and finally arrived at the back of his own house. He sidled along the roots of the tree to a ladder that looked in a bad state of disrepair. He made it up three-fourths of the way, wincing at every other step when the wood creaked and groaned, sounding like it would snap.

"Just a few more feet, and I'm home free." thought Link. It _seemed_ as if his plan had gone off without a hitch.

Of course, plans rarely go as expected. 

"EEEK!!!", screamed a high pitched voice FAR too close to his left ear. Mind reeling in surprise, and arms wind-milling as he frantically sought the ladder, the Hero of Time plummeted the ten feet he had just climbed, back to hard ground beneath him. He closed his eyes expecting a very hard landing directly on his head, but was further surprised when his very soft landing was followed by an "oomf" that wasn't from him. _Well, at least the screaming is stopped._

He fearfully cracked open one eye to find out which of his friends he had just clobbered.

"Ack! Saria?! I was just, um..." Link realized that his rapidly blue-ing friend would rather hear his explanation after she had received some more oxygen. So he scrambled off her and watched as his best friend gulped some deep breaths and stood up.

"Saria, it's me, Link. I was just..." but Link was cut off in his storytelling once again as Saria screamed...once again.

"EVERBODY GET OUT HERE!! LINK'S BACK!!"

"...ow..." Link was sure his ears must have been bleeding by now.

One by one the various Kokiri children stumbled out of their houses to see what was happening. Still dressed in pajamas and clutching pillows or blankets, they slowly filed over to Link's old home to find what was causing such a ruckus. Further adding to the disarray, sleep-coated hands just didn't seem to grasp right, and many of the Kokiri who lived above ground fell down their ladders in a very comical, very Link-like, fashion.

"Saria, calm down. There's no need to get everyone up at this hour. I was just going to drop my stuff off here, and then go to..." Link tried to explain.

"What?! Oh, no you're not! You've been gone three years, and you're not just gonna SNEAK in during the night and then run away again." interrupted Saria, miffed.

"Now hold on a sec, who said anything about sneaking. I was just going to see the Deku Tree and then..." Link TRIED to explain, he really did! But he was getting increasingly frustrated with the number of times she'd cut him off.

"You weren't even going to say hi, were you?! Do you even care that people around here have missed you? You didn't even say goodbye the last time you left," blamed Saria. _Ouch...that hurts. I guess I had that one coming though._

By now the thirty or more children had formed a crowd around the two people who had woken them up. The whole scene seemed rather ridiculous with a mob a children appearing no older than eight or nine, surrounding a very animated Saria and a desperately trying to defend himself Link, who was at least a foot taller than everyone else.

"SARIA!" snapped Link. This got the desired effect, as she sullenly crossed her arms and waited for Link to continue.

"I AM going to stay here. It was just late in the night and I figured I'd see the Deku Tree first and then surprise everyone in the morning." he stated plainly. "By the way, what were you doing up so late? I'm sure I wasn't loud enough to wake anyone up."

"Um, well..." Saria blushed. "Sorry about...blaming you and all that, then." She was still mad about him leaving before, but she'd at least let him explain himself.

"Um, yeah...I'm sorry too...about leaving and not telling anyone. I guess...I was sorta wrapped up in myself back then and not thinking about anyone else," said Link sheepishly. _Geez__, that's a REALLY bad excuse._

"It's okay, at least you're back now. And to answer your earlier question, I had forgotten to feed Bessie today," said Saria, calming down.

"Bessie?"

"Yeah, that's your..." she trailed off realizing that everyone was still there watching them. "Alright people! Break it up! We're not putting on a show here!"

"But didn't you just..." asked one of the children weakly, his sleep-hazed mind still working slowly.

"Yes, Saria asked you all out to see me, Link. I'm back. Now if everyone'll please go back to bed, I'll talk to you all in the morning." finished Link quickly. He was never fond of grand introductions or goodbyes, and this whole situation was making him uncomfortable.

Much more quickly than they came out, the children dispersed with the promise of sleep, some still grumbling about being disturbed for no reason. Finally, Link and Saria were alone again.

"So..." drawled Link, unsure what to say now.

"C'mon, I'll show you Bessie," chirped Saria happily. _Wow...it's disturbing how quickly her mood changes._

= = = = = = = = = Inside Link's house = = = = = = = = =

"What is a COW doing in my room?!" exclaimed Link.

Paradox of the Universe#1: a cow is brought halfway across the land of Hyrule, brought by _someone_ into a land where no human other than Link has ever gone before, _somehow_ gotten fifteen feet off the ground up a ladder, and forced into a room through a doorway half as wide as the cow is! And, to top it off, all of this is done without a single person in the forest noticing!! What's the deal with that reality?!

"It's yours. Remember the whole Epona-Malon obstacle course thing in the future? I've been taking care of it while you were away."

"Yeah, I remember, but..." Link paused a moment to gather his thoughts. Time travel always made his head hurt. "When I returned, everything that had happened, the good and the bad, was erased. So...the goddesses decided that I would have to lose Epona, but I could keep a stupid COW?! I fail to see the divine wisdom in this," he ranted.

"Hmm...'Link, the Hero of Bovine Herds'," giggled Saria. "Hey that's catchy!"

"I've been back ten minutes and already I'm being harassed. Life is sooo unfair." Link griped playfully.

Saria tried to hide a yawn by sitting down on Link's creaky bed. Her mind was excited at seeing Link back in the forest, but her body was sending her reminders that she would normally be long asleep by now.

"You should get some sleep, Saria."

"No, I want to talk to you tonight. I miss not having my best friend around to joke with," complained Saria, who, for all her worldly knowledge as a sage, sounded exactly like a whiny ten-year old.

"I'll talk to you more in the morning. Besides, we have lots more time. It's not like I'm going anywhere," reminded Link.

"You better not," said Saria, getting up and swatting him. "G'night Link."

"Goodnight Saria."

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_To be continued..._

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**Next chapter:** Ya kno...I haven't written the next chapter yet, so none of these are ever gonna be accurate.

Sooo....? Any better?

I'm offering rewards of bags of trail mix to anyone who tells me what they think! (Mmm....trail mix *drooling*)

Ooo! Ooo! There it is **\/  Do** you see it?!  It's the review button! O_O


	3. Chapter 2: Kokiri in Drag

**Disclaimer: **Um, yeah...see chapter 2 for a witty disclaimer joke. -_-

Sorry 'bout the long delay, 2 weeks I think. Jeez I'm lazy!

In thanks for the nice, long review, Greven eats an entire bag of sugar with Storm. 8_8 (double vision)

= = 3 hrs later = =

Greven can finally see straight and decides to write another chapter.

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Thoughts are in _italics_

(**!Beware! **Falling Flashbacks Ahead)

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**Chapter 2: Kokiri in Drag**

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The outside of Saria's tree house was surrounded by the lovely aroma of stewing vegetables, and occasional bits of pleasant conversation floated out to any Kokiri who happened to be walking by. By all appearances it seemed to be an unexceptional morning, preceding an unexceptional day.

On the inside, though, the most shocking scene was unfolding. Both Link and Mido were sitting cozily at her table, talking and joking with one another, while Saria prepared them some soup for a late morning meal.

Before today, Link would have downright laughed at anyone who even suggested that such a thing was possible between the two old enemies. But here they were, in companionable conversation, as though it was the most natural thing in the world. And what's more disturbing...both of them were wearing dresses. This was definitely NOT an unexceptional morning.

To most, this would seem unrealistic, but the unusual events of that morning had drastically changed the dynamics of the forest village.

= = = = = = = Flashback = = = = = = =

It was early. 

How early exactly? Well...none the Kokiri owned clocks, but as any respectable Hylian would tell you, it was 3 o'clock in the morning. This was certainly not a time for people to be up and about, especially in place full of children. But, contrary to rational thought, and in defiance of those jealous images of other children lying in bed, _some_body crept through the night.

All because this person had a mission, and the sweet, sweet revenge he would get, would greatly outweigh any amount of lost sleep. He quietly made his way over to the tree house holding Link, tonight's unconscious victim, and once he got there, he shuffled around to the back of it where he could climb up.

He purposely avoided using the ladder, remembering how loud it was when Link tried to use it. He'd been woken up long before Saria's shouting match had even started due to the monstrous noises. It'd sounded like someone was beating a Wolfos with a stick!

Before he scaled the tree, though, the intruder stuffed as much nearby grass and berries into his tunic as he could. He had overheard Link and Saria talking about the cow on Link's pad, and this idea had come to him in the middle of the night, "the perfect wakeup call."

So, once inside, the trespasser set about weeding bits of grass and leaves through Link's hair and clothes, and crushing the berries in his hands and spreading them around on Link's face. He had no idea if cows ate these things, but he sure hoped so!

After everything was complete, the boy poked the cow awake and led it over to Link, just to make sure it got the idea. _Link had this coming a looong time ago. Now it's payback time!_

Sure enough, the cow started to happily munch away on the grass, not worrying whenever a patch of hair or clothing got caught in the mix as well.

(A/N: So, THAT'S why Link always wears that hat!)

Link stirred when the cow moved on to licking the berries bits off his face.

"Nngh, Navi...just a couple minutes...Zelda won't mind if I sleep i....!!!"

About halfway through the sentence, Link realized that one, Navi's fluttering wasn't wet and slimy, and two, he hadn't even SEEN Navi in three years! And so, he peeked an eye open, and instead saw the looming face of "Bessie" lean down to lick another bit of boysenberry off his chin.

"Eww...this is _not_ the great way to start your morning," grumbled Link. He lifted the hem of his tunic to wipe off his face, and then he noticed that could see _through_ certain parts of his shirt.

"Ahh! Stupid cow! Green clothes does not mean grass! And now what am I supposed to wear. I only used one pair of clothes in Termina! I oughta skin you, and use that instead!"

Meanwhile, the person who had instigated all of this was hiding under the table and desperately trying to control his laughter. The boy wasn't entirely successful, and the various snorting and gagging noises caught Link's attention.

"Mido?! You...you...!!! I'm gonna KILL YOU!!!" shouted a peeved Link as he dove under the table. It wasn't so bad that he had to get a new tunic, but the fact that Mido had done all of this just to get a cheap laugh pushed Link to teach him a lesson. On the other hand, Mido, who was the sole object of Link's anger, quickly decided that it would have been better smarter to skip watching his plan unfold, and then escaped out the door.

_Oh no you don't.__ You're not gettin' away so easily!_ Link paused only long enough to pick up his Megaton Hammer, and then he raced in pursuit of Mido.

At first, Link was thoroughly angry with his old rival, but the way Mido ran screaming from the tree house, and how his eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he saw Link carrying the Megaton Hammer, Link's mood gradually improving. Sadistic? When it came to Mido.....a resounding yes!

Things only got better for the hero when Mido stumbled over a rock and landed headlong in the muddy ground next to the river. It seemed the goddesses had chosen to smite him today. And what's worse for the Kokiri leader, this also allowed Link to catch up.

"Hehe, you think that was pretty clever, huh, Mido?" Link grinned. "Oh, this hammer is pretty heavy. I dunno how much longer I can hold it up." Link made a show of dropping it down to the side and "accidentally" smashing a tree stump, causing Mido to jump where he was sitting.

Not to be outdone by a little intimidation, Mido countered, "Well what was that all about yesterday?! Acting all lovey-dovey with Saria. I thought it was pretty disgusting really." He added the next part, only letting a little jealousy enter his voice, "You know, she'd go out with me if you weren't here. I don't even know why you bother. You're a Hylian; you're not wanted here, fairy-less!"

Saria caught the last bit of conversation as she walked by, and immediately recognized the age-old argument. She decided she'd better break it up before it came to blows.

"Jeez Mido, you ever thought it might have something to do with...say...your awful personality!" responded Link. "And besides, you know me an' Sar have never been anything more than friends, so don't even mention that!" 

By now Saria had reached the edge of the river and stepped between the two of them. 

"Both of you stopping this right now!" said peacekeeper Saria. "Why are you both fighting _again_?"

"Mido put food all over me while I was sleeping, and then had the cow eat it off. Look at my shirt!" He held his tattered tunic up for emphasis.

"Well, Mido? Why are you acting like a jerk to Link already?" asked Saria miffed. There had been more shouting and fighting in the last six hours than there had been in the whole last year, and that wasn't a good thing for the sleepy village.

"It's obvious that I like you Saria, and if Link wasn't constantly butting in, I'm sure you'd go out with me. That's why. I just want him to leave!" If Link every envied Mido something, it was his uncanny ability to say just about anything to a girl and not even consider the possibility of rejection.

"Mido...as Link expertly told you, and as I know I've told you at _least_ a hundred times, he and I are just friends, so that has nothing to do with it. So stop picking on him! And if you want to know why I don't 'go out' with you, the reason is 'cause well...you're always a jerk to him!" scolded Saria. "Now give me that thing 'fore you hurt somebody, Link," she asked extending her hand for the hammer.

"Awww....c'mon, just one swing?" begged Link with puppy dog eyes. "Pweeze??" _Hmm...__I ought to let Link use that mallet just so we could knock some sense into him! And besides, it IS awfully hard to say no to that face, she mentally giggled._

"Oh alright," concede Saria with feigned seriousness.

"WHAT?! Are you both crazy?! You're gonna let him crush me with that thing!!" panicked Mido, not picking up on the ruse when Link lifted the hammer over his head.

"Hmm...I guess five minutes of sheer terror is a good enough payback for a ruined set of clothes," said Link slowly, as though seriously contemplating it.

Then, Saria shattered the peace she had just built. She quietly started chuckling to herself while glancing at Link's head. Soon enough, though, she was in full blown hysterics, and Mido was smirking victoriously at Link, remembering the other part of his plan.

"Really, Link, did you get a stylist to do that, or did ya just go stick your head in a deku baba?"

"Will someone PLEASE tell me what's going on here?" demanded Link, not _nearly_ as amused as the other two.

"I...hehe...just noticed, ha!" She took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself and then pointed to the water, "Look at your reflection."

Link did as he was told, and his jaw dropped when he saw what he looked like. With shredded clothes and tufts of hair sticking out where other parts were nearly cut down to his scalp, Link essentially looked like he'd just been run over by a modern-day lawn mower.

"Mido..." Link said slowly and dangerously, "you're so dead."

"Um...just don't use the hammer...and try not to kill him, kay?" asked Saria not wanting a fellow Kokiri to get mauled to death.

"I guess a severe beating will just hafta do."

= = = = = = = About 5 minutes later = = = = = = =

Saria dragged both Mido and Link out of the river by their ears, all three of them now soaking wet. Mido had a black eye, a bloody nose, and a cracked lip, and even Link was sporting a new bruise on his cheek.

Both of them, sitting there cold, wet, sore, and altogether miserable, looked like to two kids about to get scolded by their mother, which basically, they were.

"I should've put a stop to this sooner," rued Saria, and then she continued in a more imperial voice, "By my authority as Sage of the Forest, as long as both of you are living here, I want you to promise not to fight with each, and at least TRY to be civil."

Her audience continued to glare sullenly at each other. "Well?"

"Fine, truce," said Link extending his hand. 

"Whatever..." Saria quirked an eyebrow, "...I mean yeah, truce."

"Good. Now let's go back to my house so we can get you both dried off and into some new clothes. Oh, and I'll need to get some bandages and ointment for your wounds, I'll just send one of the other children over to the store for that. Hmm, it _is_ kinda early, but I think I could heat up some soup I have left over, and....oh my don't touch your eye Mido you're only going to make it worse, and Link stop pulling at those holes, I'm going to sew that back up for you later," said Saria while fussing over the two of them.

"Yes, _MOM_..." drawled Mido, sniggering.

"And could you knit me a pair of mittens while you're at it, Grandma Saria," laughed Link.

"Ooh! Ooh! Is Grandma gonna read us a story?!"

"Ow, I have a booboo! Kiss it Auntie Saria!" Link and Mido high-fived each other when they could practically see the steam coming out of her ears.

Saria had no idea what she had just unleashed upon the world.

= = = = = = = End Flahsback = = = = = = =

And that's how, while their own clothes were drying by the fire, the new almost-friends found themselves unashamedly wearing two of Saria's small, green dresses.

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_To be continued..._

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Sooo...? How was it? 6 pages is really long for me!

**Semi-important A/N:**

I edit my chapters (I hate bad spelling and grammar) and I sometimes rewrite parts so that the story sounds better, so that's why it takes me a little longer (like a day or so).

I could instead just write down whatever comes to mind, and I could probably fire out a chapter in an hour or two. But many LoZ stories are written this way (dodges knives from angry writers), so I tried to make this exceptional.

If you think it'd be better just to update more quickly and screw the style, or if throughout this entire author's note you've been thinking, "what's this guy talking about? his story already is crap!" well then say so, cuz there's not point in writing what an audience hates (unless the writer absolutely loves writing that way).

Sorry for rambling about myself. "-_-

Ooo! Ooo! There it is **\/  Do** you see it?!  It's the review button! O_O


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